It is time for this month’s “Where in the Universe is EVE SOB” post where every month I summarize where I am at in EVE. I also throw in some real world stuff and the top CNN headline of the day for a historical WTF was the world doing back then element.
Where am I?
It has been an interesting month for me in EVE having found myself at the cross roads. As a result I have taken the dynamic duo and split them into different paths. All of this to keep my sanity and add some spice to my EVE life. As a result there will be a slight change in format here.
SonOfBraben remains at the helm of HCSH in highsec living the hermit life building ships, mining, running missions, and grumbling.
ZombiNutz has been cut loose to explore the world of PvP in EVE with a currently undetermined focus.
How’s building stuff doing?
The corp. itself is ticking along towards it goals wearing down the standings needed for a highsec research POS. Ship building is steady and T1 mods and ammo are selling well. The biggest change is that the mission running for standings is actually funneling in a good clip of income, crap to reprocess, and salvage bits. Meaning the need to mine has greatly been reduced. This makes me very happy and allows me to continue this steady semi passive income stream.
How’s shooting stuff doing?
I am currently still looking for a corp. to land in to begin my schooling in PVP. I’ve had some suggestions given by folks in the blog community. I’ve also been poking around recruitment channels looking for the right spot.
I expect the next week or so will see a direction here.
What Skills am I training?
SonOfBraben: Finished T2 small blasters, some trade skills, shield tanking the hulk, and social skills. Now he is training core improved skills for the next 32 days. After this a LvL 4 Mission Domi fit will begin estimated at 82 days.
Zombinutz can now fly an orca \o/ which is a shame as he is now going to live in a blaster Incursus for a while now. The plan was to go with HM and HAM to T2 next but that has now become an 8 day boot camp to get into a cookie cutter rifter auto cannon fit. Further than that it all depends on where I land in the PvP world.
In that pesky real world:
My EVE space is compete finally. I've added some EVE gear to it in the form of a Gallente mug, mouse pad, and a 30X20 EVE legends poster. With the scare with my wives colon I am all about getting to my annual physical and spending time each day on the floor to ceiling bag. Aside from that the spring is here and we all cannot be happier to say goodbye to winter.
CNN headline for Today
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/31/walk.in.our.shoes.ireport/index.html?hpt=C1Enjoy
Have an AWESOME April 2010 ALL.
Cheers and Fly Grumpy.
EVE SOB
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Cross roads still suck, Kind of…
Earlier in the month I wrote of my disillusions around my own direction in EVE. Essentially fed up with highsec with its mining, mission running, and ho-hum safety with all my focus scattered across lonetrek. EVE SOB was a drift again. I craved action and change. I wanted a bigger ship. I wanted to shoot people. Want had become my only need.
As my own profile states “I am too stubborn to follow and too angry to lead” this leaves me limited options moving forward. I have to lay down one of my crosses and get on with it. The Stubborn part of me is a gift from my Scottish blood. The anger is a result of MMO players creating senseless political bullshit inside a game.
In the end the actions taken are to keep with my qualities and set them aside, let me explain:
The first clear thing I have done is keep SonOfBraben in our highsec manufacturing corp. to continue down the road of the builder. Mining is becoming less and less of a need here and having ZombiNutz sitting about in a hauler is silly now. The stubborn will stick to the plan and keep myself funded without fear of becoming angry in having to manage people. The hermit life in all its glory!
As a result of this ZombiNutz is now free to go explore the universe. He is back in a starter corp. as another drake flying young Caldari with many lessons to learn. A young Caldari actively seeking employment, as a grunt for a corporation that strikes me as worthy of my time. A corp. that has some bloody direction this time and not just one man’s goal list. Yet one not large enough to have the political torment that fuels my anger. As a grunt I can enjoy following someone else’s plan and whatever experiences they might afford me. I can let my anger guide my missiles towards targets and agendas while someone else anguishes over the results.
I’ve reached out to a corp. here and chatted with folks there. I am still looking for the right mix of nice people and big plans to throw my little Caldari at. So if you have a corp. that could use a generic Drake jockey who can also fly Gallente Frigs and an Orca. Send ZombiNutz a mail with sparkling recruitment promises and corp. vision that I cannot see though. In return my blog will include the story of my life in this corp. for the entire world (well 3 people) to read.
**EDIT*** I FLY US-EAST Time Zone. However I tend to play odd hours a few nights a week.
FLY GRUMPY!
Cheers
EVE SOB
As my own profile states “I am too stubborn to follow and too angry to lead” this leaves me limited options moving forward. I have to lay down one of my crosses and get on with it. The Stubborn part of me is a gift from my Scottish blood. The anger is a result of MMO players creating senseless political bullshit inside a game.
In the end the actions taken are to keep with my qualities and set them aside, let me explain:
The first clear thing I have done is keep SonOfBraben in our highsec manufacturing corp. to continue down the road of the builder. Mining is becoming less and less of a need here and having ZombiNutz sitting about in a hauler is silly now. The stubborn will stick to the plan and keep myself funded without fear of becoming angry in having to manage people. The hermit life in all its glory!
As a result of this ZombiNutz is now free to go explore the universe. He is back in a starter corp. as another drake flying young Caldari with many lessons to learn. A young Caldari actively seeking employment, as a grunt for a corporation that strikes me as worthy of my time. A corp. that has some bloody direction this time and not just one man’s goal list. Yet one not large enough to have the political torment that fuels my anger. As a grunt I can enjoy following someone else’s plan and whatever experiences they might afford me. I can let my anger guide my missiles towards targets and agendas while someone else anguishes over the results.
I’ve reached out to a corp. here and chatted with folks there. I am still looking for the right mix of nice people and big plans to throw my little Caldari at. So if you have a corp. that could use a generic Drake jockey who can also fly Gallente Frigs and an Orca. Send ZombiNutz a mail with sparkling recruitment promises and corp. vision that I cannot see though. In return my blog will include the story of my life in this corp. for the entire world (well 3 people) to read.
**EDIT*** I FLY US-EAST Time Zone. However I tend to play odd hours a few nights a week.
FLY GRUMPY!
Cheers
EVE SOB
Friday, March 26, 2010
EV(E)IL SOB
It's funny. In the real world we all like to think of ourselves as good people. We try to do unto others as we would have them do to us. Yet here as I type this there is a deep down sense of naughty brewing in me. The need to do unto others things that would not be appreciated in return is swelling. The highsec industrialist has a devilbear on his shoulder... ;)
I was reading a post over at EVE OPPORTUNIST around infiltration and hacking. Where Logan talks about the definitions and general sub groups of each. It got me thinking about the rival corps. in my little part of empire and how I could use an alt to do under handed things to them.
Hacking is some thing that has real world consequence and some thing I frown upon greatly. Yet the use of alts to mole into corps and steal stuff (ISK, SHIPS, INTEL, TEARS/SOULS) seems to be pretty popular. Almost an accepted aspect of the game.
So why not raise an alt to spread a little mayhem around the asteroids and mission sites. Why not see what poor fools are out there who will let any chump into there corp. and give them the key to the pantry.
stay tuned for more EV(E)IL SOB adventures to come.
Cheers
EV(E)IL SOB
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Real Life can be a bear
In the real world we are mortal. As such there is no hopping clones when they wear out or plugging in int if your a bit daft. Getting podded in your car is a one time experience.
This week doctors found a golf ball sized tumor in my wife's Colon. So far there appears to be no sign of cancer but it rocked my world a little. We are in our 30's and most doctors don't suggest folks go for a colonoscopy until they are 50. In the case of my wife this would have been too late and the news would have been much worse. If our GP was not an exceptional doctor and referred her to have the procedure my life would have been very different in 10 years time. I would be facing life alone with out my soul mate. A special thanks to Dr. Kantas for kicking arse as a doctor.
Anyhow. This blog post is not to talk so much of dodged bullets. Rather encourage folks to go out and get your innards looked at. Taking a tube up the tail pipe might save your life. So don't wait until your 50 before adding a colonoscopy to your health maintenance list. If your over 30 stop trying to be 20 and face up that our real world clones need some work to keep them tickin'
Cheers and good health to you all.
EVE SOB
This week doctors found a golf ball sized tumor in my wife's Colon. So far there appears to be no sign of cancer but it rocked my world a little. We are in our 30's and most doctors don't suggest folks go for a colonoscopy until they are 50. In the case of my wife this would have been too late and the news would have been much worse. If our GP was not an exceptional doctor and referred her to have the procedure my life would have been very different in 10 years time. I would be facing life alone with out my soul mate. A special thanks to Dr. Kantas for kicking arse as a doctor.
Anyhow. This blog post is not to talk so much of dodged bullets. Rather encourage folks to go out and get your innards looked at. Taking a tube up the tail pipe might save your life. So don't wait until your 50 before adding a colonoscopy to your health maintenance list. If your over 30 stop trying to be 20 and face up that our real world clones need some work to keep them tickin'
Cheers and good health to you all.
EVE SOB
Monday, March 22, 2010
EVE SPACE
This is my VERY late offering to the EVE space blog trend. If you read my blog you might recall that I was renovating my space from a dusty desk off to the side of my basement to a finished office in the same area. Before the space was ever an EVE space it was known to some as "The Tech Ghetto". Here I present it for historical sentiment.
I mean what gaming space is not complete with out a million cables, a saws all, and concrete wall? I know you are all jealous and well you should be but only I will ever know how the dust felt under my toes.
Flash forward to the present day. After some hard work at my own hands I now have a modest 8x8ft office nestled away in the quiet of my basement. Sadly I had only my iPhone available for the pictures. So please forgive the poor image quality. Here is my current EVE space.
The desk wraps around to the left where my work laptop and it's second screen are dormant at this hour. A bottle of Glenfiddich, half empty, is hiding behind my Medusa NX surround headset (Awesome 5.1 surround if your looking for a headset). Not sure why there is a pocket knife and measuring tape on the desk tonight. The Rockstar energy drink is all gone and kept me alive through some more level 3's tonight. The screens are 21" with one each belonging to the two windows 7 systems to the right. They are both controlled by the G11 keyboard and Razer Diamondback mouse (old school awesome) using synergy. The Katana behind it all was a Christmas gift from my wife. Eventually will be displayed in a nice case in the middle of the wall.
As I am very new to EVE there are no fancy wall charts or eve shot glasses to strut with. In fact the room is devoid of art right now. This will change with some Anime posters, geeky trinkets and fantasy critters (dragons and such) once I find the location they are stored in. I have my eye on a megathron model on the EVE store that might just be my first EVE addition.
Like all good hermits I do not share my retreat with other humans often. Yet there is one creature who spends a great deal of time with me late at night playing EVE. His name is Wolfwood (after the trigun character) and below he can be seen pointing out that the 100mm RTP on my Incursus needs to be at least 200mm.
*EDIT* Mandrill asked if all EVE folks were cat people. So I decided to add another crappy iPhone pic of Kiku. He might be a small fox sized Shiba Inu but inside he belives he is a Lion.
Cheers
EVE SOB
THE Week, Weather, Chatter and What if?
THE WEEK!
Life in EVE stumbles along in the form of level 3 missions and T1 stuff building and selling. I find myself mining a lot less these days and buying/reprocessing materials for my production runs. While not wealthy by EVE standards. My wallet now ticks up at a steady pace. The reduction of time spent mining has greatly improved my earlier mood at the cross roads.
I lost another battle cruiser to a level 4 mission during the week. Some times the initial agro just cannot be tanked by a battle cruiser. I don't grumble so much about it now as I used too. I've recouped the cost swiftly running level 3s with a salvage ship in tow. Profit has been good and the risk super low. Sadly no further ninja salvage action to speak off. I am ready to die in the name of education with hopes to take some with me.
I've been on the fence about my little 2 man hermit corp. and have been "interviewing" potential alternatives. Unfortunately what I have found thus far are smaller groups of folks looking to expand who are not quite as well established as my own little corp down the roads to riches. None of them thus far have had any enthusiasm in recruiting or apparent purpose other than "some day we will go to null sec".
So for now I'll stick to what I am doing while poking about the recruitment channels. Heck I might even try my hand at recruiting. Lord knows I have some basic perks to offer folks. A small stock pile of T1 frigs kicking about with plenty of common ammo to shoot. I just cannot bring my self to lead again right now.
THE WEATHER!
It has been a stellar week up here in the New England region of the USA. I've been out and about with my family and find it harder to settle into a solid gaming routine. This is normal for me as the winter snows melt giving way to more time in the real world.
The hammock and wind chimes are up in the yard. Mountain bikes are off the hangers and tires inflated to the correct pressure. The boys are learning archery under my close and proud instruction and doing very well at it. They earned them self a new bow this weekend.
The spring is coming folks and a happier hermit am I with blue skies.
THE CHATTER!
There are some interesting discussions floating about around An Open Letter to CCP Regarding Tyrannis. I am not near an old and wise EVE player. However as a grumpy old space hermit I can relate to this letter. I am not so sure CCP are quite as blind to the pitfalls are the poster might project but there is definatly some evidence about the blog traps that Domination broke some stuff pretty hard. Some dev blogs have even suggested that the backend is not keeping up. I don't really see whats broken here in my blissfully ignorant highsec noob life right now. I does make for some interesting reading.
I do look forward to planetary interaction and the apparent industrial focus of it today. EVE being a PvP game does lend some concern over how this might evolve to incorporate combat. The tie in with DUST is logical with FPS style combat being the best way to fight over surface zones and installations. The issue is that DUST is not going to be a part of EVE but a completely separate game.
As a capsuleer that worries me a little. That I am not just pitting my resources against other players in the game, but rather against folks in another game all together. Sure I have a PS3 and deep in my gaming skills lies a dormant "run and gun" skill set. Christ I even have some tactical command abilities and was once a capable pilot of surface assault craft. Yet there is just some thing unsettling about some other community impacting EVE.
THE WHAT IF?!?
Perhaps walk in stations is an early pilot to how capsuleers might interact on the surface with the DUST engine as incorporated into EVE. I wounder how well some of our top pirates and nullsec commanders might fair if they have to put boots on the ground to keep there planetary installations. How it might be possible some day to pursue some one into a station on foot and hunt them down. The last safe heaven is no longer safe but rather just another hunting ground.
There are many places that CCP can take EVE and if you stop to consider it as THE ultimate space combat game. Why not consider that there could be a FPS aspect of it and that in station is fair game too. Folks write fiction about it in which the EVE avatar is depicted at bars and in quarters. Why not eventually extend the game into this realm if you truly are trying to create the complete sandbox. Perhaps they add a "Board ship" option to space combat where rather than ransom a pod pilot one can make a play at capturing the craft. Making the self destruct button a little more than cheating some one out of a kill. A pirate can blow the ship up, ransom, or risk going life and limb to get a ship out of the deal or die trying.
Countless possibilities with incorporating a FPS aspect to EVE and a nice what if.
Cheers
EVE SOB
Life in EVE stumbles along in the form of level 3 missions and T1 stuff building and selling. I find myself mining a lot less these days and buying/reprocessing materials for my production runs. While not wealthy by EVE standards. My wallet now ticks up at a steady pace. The reduction of time spent mining has greatly improved my earlier mood at the cross roads.
I lost another battle cruiser to a level 4 mission during the week. Some times the initial agro just cannot be tanked by a battle cruiser. I don't grumble so much about it now as I used too. I've recouped the cost swiftly running level 3s with a salvage ship in tow. Profit has been good and the risk super low. Sadly no further ninja salvage action to speak off. I am ready to die in the name of education with hopes to take some with me.
I've been on the fence about my little 2 man hermit corp. and have been "interviewing" potential alternatives. Unfortunately what I have found thus far are smaller groups of folks looking to expand who are not quite as well established as my own little corp down the roads to riches. None of them thus far have had any enthusiasm in recruiting or apparent purpose other than "some day we will go to null sec".
So for now I'll stick to what I am doing while poking about the recruitment channels. Heck I might even try my hand at recruiting. Lord knows I have some basic perks to offer folks. A small stock pile of T1 frigs kicking about with plenty of common ammo to shoot. I just cannot bring my self to lead again right now.
THE WEATHER!
It has been a stellar week up here in the New England region of the USA. I've been out and about with my family and find it harder to settle into a solid gaming routine. This is normal for me as the winter snows melt giving way to more time in the real world.
The hammock and wind chimes are up in the yard. Mountain bikes are off the hangers and tires inflated to the correct pressure. The boys are learning archery under my close and proud instruction and doing very well at it. They earned them self a new bow this weekend.
The spring is coming folks and a happier hermit am I with blue skies.
THE CHATTER!
There are some interesting discussions floating about around An Open Letter to CCP Regarding Tyrannis. I am not near an old and wise EVE player. However as a grumpy old space hermit I can relate to this letter. I am not so sure CCP are quite as blind to the pitfalls are the poster might project but there is definatly some evidence about the blog traps that Domination broke some stuff pretty hard. Some dev blogs have even suggested that the backend is not keeping up. I don't really see whats broken here in my blissfully ignorant highsec noob life right now. I does make for some interesting reading.
I do look forward to planetary interaction and the apparent industrial focus of it today. EVE being a PvP game does lend some concern over how this might evolve to incorporate combat. The tie in with DUST is logical with FPS style combat being the best way to fight over surface zones and installations. The issue is that DUST is not going to be a part of EVE but a completely separate game.
As a capsuleer that worries me a little. That I am not just pitting my resources against other players in the game, but rather against folks in another game all together. Sure I have a PS3 and deep in my gaming skills lies a dormant "run and gun" skill set. Christ I even have some tactical command abilities and was once a capable pilot of surface assault craft. Yet there is just some thing unsettling about some other community impacting EVE.
THE WHAT IF?!?
Perhaps walk in stations is an early pilot to how capsuleers might interact on the surface with the DUST engine as incorporated into EVE. I wounder how well some of our top pirates and nullsec commanders might fair if they have to put boots on the ground to keep there planetary installations. How it might be possible some day to pursue some one into a station on foot and hunt them down. The last safe heaven is no longer safe but rather just another hunting ground.
There are many places that CCP can take EVE and if you stop to consider it as THE ultimate space combat game. Why not consider that there could be a FPS aspect of it and that in station is fair game too. Folks write fiction about it in which the EVE avatar is depicted at bars and in quarters. Why not eventually extend the game into this realm if you truly are trying to create the complete sandbox. Perhaps they add a "Board ship" option to space combat where rather than ransom a pod pilot one can make a play at capturing the craft. Making the self destruct button a little more than cheating some one out of a kill. A pirate can blow the ship up, ransom, or risk going life and limb to get a ship out of the deal or die trying.
Countless possibilities with incorporating a FPS aspect to EVE and a nice what if.
Cheers
EVE SOB
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A TRAP, really! ;)
Had some time to play last night. So off to a level 3 caldari Navy mission agent I go for some easy ISK and LP. Level 4's are doable for me with 2 battle cruisers, but blasting through level 3's suits me better.
The passive drake freshly rebuilt from a "OH crap we are stuck in a wall" incident was doing the business and my salvage catalyst was mopping up the wrecks.
So right as I get the objectives of a really easy level 3 mission done. In warps a yellow Heron who loots and goes red. I type "LOL!" in local and loot the last of the BC rat wrecks first leaving a ton of frigs for my little ninja friend. Destroyer is now on it's way home (6 jump round Trip) to get my freshly painted Incursus "Lunch Meat II" with spiffy T2 blasters and buffer armor tank kung-fu action sounds. The drake drifts around approaching the ninja now and then. Lunch Meat is warping to the gate for the system when my little buddy in black PJs locks me up (to scan me down) and start a convo. I did not grab it but it goes like this:
Ninja type: Hi, thx <3
Me: No problem. How's the Ninja business?
Ninja type: Don't know. this is my first time. concord blew up my ship.
Me: IC ;)
Ninja type: Thanks for not booming my ship.
Me: You are welcome. Where are your buddies?
Convo closes and the heron warps out. 5 seconds later lunch meat lands with me ready to spice up the life for us both a little. Even if this heron smelt like a chunk of meat waved at lions while hunters line up with bazooka behind the brush.
Some what disappointed I set the drake towards the agent and started to warp about the planets and belts in the system. Sure enough I found me 2 other fellows of the same corp. Flying an ishkur (drool) and a thorax with nice yellow glows.
Sure there would have been a good chance a PvE PST HM Drake and a PvP Incursus would not have had much of a chance Vs seasoned ninja types. However today I am kicking myself hard for not taking the bait.
This will happen again and a good practise might be to keep some PvP ships closer to where I am missioning. Perhaps I have found my happy place between industrialism and shooting stuff. Perhaps next time the bait will be me :)
Cheers
EVE SOB
The passive drake freshly rebuilt from a "OH crap we are stuck in a wall" incident was doing the business and my salvage catalyst was mopping up the wrecks.
So right as I get the objectives of a really easy level 3 mission done. In warps a yellow Heron who loots and goes red. I type "LOL!" in local and loot the last of the BC rat wrecks first leaving a ton of frigs for my little ninja friend. Destroyer is now on it's way home (6 jump round Trip) to get my freshly painted Incursus "Lunch Meat II" with spiffy T2 blasters and buffer armor tank kung-fu action sounds. The drake drifts around approaching the ninja now and then. Lunch Meat is warping to the gate for the system when my little buddy in black PJs locks me up (to scan me down) and start a convo. I did not grab it but it goes like this:
Ninja type: Hi, thx <3
Me: No problem. How's the Ninja business?
Ninja type: Don't know. this is my first time. concord blew up my ship.
Me: IC ;)
Ninja type: Thanks for not booming my ship.
Me: You are welcome. Where are your buddies?
Convo closes and the heron warps out. 5 seconds later lunch meat lands with me ready to spice up the life for us both a little. Even if this heron smelt like a chunk of meat waved at lions while hunters line up with bazooka behind the brush.
Some what disappointed I set the drake towards the agent and started to warp about the planets and belts in the system. Sure enough I found me 2 other fellows of the same corp. Flying an ishkur (drool) and a thorax with nice yellow glows.
Sure there would have been a good chance a PvE PST HM Drake and a PvP Incursus would not have had much of a chance Vs seasoned ninja types. However today I am kicking myself hard for not taking the bait.
This will happen again and a good practise might be to keep some PvP ships closer to where I am missioning. Perhaps I have found my happy place between industrialism and shooting stuff. Perhaps next time the bait will be me :)
Cheers
EVE SOB
Monday, March 15, 2010
Cross roads suck!
Skills and Career choice in EVE is a mammoth pool of diversity and sexy temptation. Yes I just said that a video game about Internet spaceships is full of sexy temptations. I find myself wavering at a cross road between striving for my goals and heading out an doing some thing fun. This dilemma has to be one all EVE pilots, young or old, face at a number of points as they progress down there chosen paths.
My goal is simple: Make loads of ISK as an industrialist in highsec to fund my future adventures getting blown up.
The "plan" is a sound and achievable plan. It's some what of a safe "Plan" and my 2 account one man show has most of the skills and equipment needed to do it. The "Plan" is very simple in it's execution but time consuming. The "PLAN" has a little excitement in running level 4 missions for decent profit and standings gain. The "P L A N" is self sufficient as all the parts compliment the end goals.
The only downside is the jolly bloody "P L A N!!!" is starting to bore the living shit out of me.
I should be training for better manufacturing and trade skills. I SHOULD be running missions and mining ICE and ROIDS for hours on end. I SHOULD be saving my ISK for the down payment on my POS.
However I am NOT doing these things now am I. OH NO, not in the slightest. What am I doing?
I am training my miner to fly assault frigs with T2 blasters and my combat account to fly all race T2 frigs with ALL PEW PEW to T2. I am looking at gunnery skills, not market skills. I am looking at defensive and offensive energy skills to allow me to cram more into these little hulls.
THE BLOODY PLAN is blown to HELL!!!!
So anyhow! I have a parrot in a cage and a patch on the hat rack with a puffy shirt and a cutlass in the corp hanger I dock my damned mining barge at. I live in highsec droning away at rocks and killing the same rats for there bounties and ship parts. I have a sensible existence planned out and a respectable life.
Perhaps it's time for a POS in a small wormwhole. Some where in the middle of safe and waking in a clone vat. I truly enjoy the stories, blogs, and ideas of W-Space.
Perhaps it's time to leave one account in my highsec corp. Doing his thing while taking the other account into a lowsec corp. for some fun.
Perhaps it's time to recruit some minions to do the dirty work for me. Expand my highsec corp with some new blood at the risk of getting looted by moles.
Fact is though. Right now at the middle of the cross roads I find myself turning away from the nice safe life and digging a hole in the middle. In the hole is a small box with ritualistic items intended with making a deal with a demon. How much ISK is my soul worth and is it still mine to sell?
Cheers
EVE SOB
My goal is simple: Make loads of ISK as an industrialist in highsec to fund my future adventures getting blown up.
The "plan" is a sound and achievable plan. It's some what of a safe "Plan" and my 2 account one man show has most of the skills and equipment needed to do it. The "Plan" is very simple in it's execution but time consuming. The "PLAN" has a little excitement in running level 4 missions for decent profit and standings gain. The "P L A N" is self sufficient as all the parts compliment the end goals.
The only downside is the jolly bloody "P L A N!!!" is starting to bore the living shit out of me.
I should be training for better manufacturing and trade skills. I SHOULD be running missions and mining ICE and ROIDS for hours on end. I SHOULD be saving my ISK for the down payment on my POS.
However I am NOT doing these things now am I. OH NO, not in the slightest. What am I doing?
I am training my miner to fly assault frigs with T2 blasters and my combat account to fly all race T2 frigs with ALL PEW PEW to T2. I am looking at gunnery skills, not market skills. I am looking at defensive and offensive energy skills to allow me to cram more into these little hulls.
THE BLOODY PLAN is blown to HELL!!!!
So anyhow! I have a parrot in a cage and a patch on the hat rack with a puffy shirt and a cutlass in the corp hanger I dock my damned mining barge at. I live in highsec droning away at rocks and killing the same rats for there bounties and ship parts. I have a sensible existence planned out and a respectable life.
Perhaps it's time for a POS in a small wormwhole. Some where in the middle of safe and waking in a clone vat. I truly enjoy the stories, blogs, and ideas of W-Space.
Perhaps it's time to leave one account in my highsec corp. Doing his thing while taking the other account into a lowsec corp. for some fun.
Perhaps it's time to recruit some minions to do the dirty work for me. Expand my highsec corp with some new blood at the risk of getting looted by moles.
Fact is though. Right now at the middle of the cross roads I find myself turning away from the nice safe life and digging a hole in the middle. In the hole is a small box with ritualistic items intended with making a deal with a demon. How much ISK is my soul worth and is it still mine to sell?
Cheers
EVE SOB
Thursday, March 11, 2010
[root@lifesrv01]# whoami
Other EVE bloggers have taken a moment to introduce them self to potential blog readers. So here goes.
In the REAL world:
I am a Principal Engineer for a private company. I focus on virtualization and Storage Area Network systems. It pays the bills pretty well. I have been married for a little over 10 years. My wife is an exceptional mother, talented illustrator, and strong woman. She also plays games!!! We have 2 sons ages 4 and 6 who are curious and wild as they should be.
I have lived in Australia for 25 years and the USA for about 11 years. I've been fortunate to have done many things in these 36 years. When I was younger and single I used to focus on paintball, tennis, and trap/skeet shooting as my major past times. I also used to hunt large hairy critters in many different parts of Australia. I've been known to surf and snowboard socially. Scuba diving with friends now and then. Throw in some camping, hiking, mountain biking,rally driving, and Kempo kick boxing to round out my mid 20's.
I moved to the US for love having met my wife online and decided to see how real a 8 month old trans hemisphere online relationship could be. I'd say it is going pretty well 10 years in. Our first "date" was Half life 1 deathmatch. How geeky and cool is that!?
In the GAME world:
I've played video games (card and board games too) since I was about 10 years old. Starting with a commodore 64 and ending with my current windows 7 systems (Wii and PS1/2/3).
Some of my fondest times are sitting down with my wife playing either the silent hill, resident evil, or Final Fantasy series. Any kind of 2 player fighting game such as tekken often end in some kind of marital discontent. We are both fiercely competitive. Before we became parents Sundays would be wittled away playing games together and drinking tea. Now we play games with our kids on Sundays if the weather is nasty.
I started online early but my first real group based gaming online was with a Battlefield 1942 clan. I played with them for many years under the name "Dizzy_Dingo". Evolving through to battlefiled 2. I hung up my sniper rifle, Blackhawk/AH-6 little bird, and medic packs with Battlefield 2142. I still check in with the clan and joke of the old days. They play Call of Duty based games now, but run a battle field 2 server for us old timers.
In the year 2005 some time my wife and I found WoW. We had known about it for a while and resisted the MMO. Some old buddies from the clan convinced me to run a free trial. Followed by a second free trial, a subscription, an account for my wife, and my second account. I founded a guild on a whim as a way to tie together in game friends. It did what WoW guilds do over the next 4 years. At first it was a school for new players from levels 1-80. Then it was a social raiding guild. Then it split and became a social guild and a raiding guild. Then it grew and started to raid again. Then I got tired of my play time being 90% politics and 10% dailies. So passed the reigns and suspended my accounts.
Enter EVE into the fold as a request from a friend to try it. I tend to be a social person but in EVE I play more like a old grumpy space hermit. I might talk to folks in local and some times throw a new player mining in a destroyer a tip about ship bonus etc. I might drop the odd comment into local when warping about highsec. However for the most part I am focused on a very select personal goal. I have things I want to do and don't want advice from other people. I like to figure stuff out on my own. So for now I am in hermit mode in EVE. This will change as I come out of my learning stages. Eventually my corp. will give way to another corp. or I'll grow it and move into the more exciting parts of new Eden.
I did try a player corp. for a while. I found it nice to chat to folks but there was no direction present there. There was no unity and common goals. Nothing to strive towards. Pickup mining and mission running happened and I jumped in with both feet and helped. There was NO plans of moving into lowsec EVER!!! Wardecs were spent in doc discussing PvP fits and skills not giving them a try. It was not the life for me. I left the corp to live my hermit life and the friend who introduced me to EVE quit the game for "lack of content and too many assholes!" LOL!
In the BLOG world:
I am super new to blogging with this being my first stint at the sport. I blog as a journal for my own amusement and records primarily. However I do hope that some folks see the blog and my half crazed hermit rantings. I hope some of them can relate to my experiences as they come to pass and others can benefit from them to avoid some heart ache.
EVE proves to be a colorful place to blog about. It can be harsh at times, but I kind of dig that. EVE is the ultimate ego game. Your in charge of a demi god with nothing do with it but what you please. So much to do and forever to do it. I plan to blog here for a while and see where this thing goes. Hope some of you drop in and check it out.
Well that's about it for now. Sure there is a lot more to me than what is posted here. but in summary.
-I am a geek who is married with kids
-I am a grumpy old space hermit
-I will blog about the stuff I do in EVE. Good, Bad, or Whatever
Cheers
EVE SOB
In the REAL world:
I am a Principal Engineer for a private company. I focus on virtualization and Storage Area Network systems. It pays the bills pretty well. I have been married for a little over 10 years. My wife is an exceptional mother, talented illustrator, and strong woman. She also plays games!!! We have 2 sons ages 4 and 6 who are curious and wild as they should be.
I have lived in Australia for 25 years and the USA for about 11 years. I've been fortunate to have done many things in these 36 years. When I was younger and single I used to focus on paintball, tennis, and trap/skeet shooting as my major past times. I also used to hunt large hairy critters in many different parts of Australia. I've been known to surf and snowboard socially. Scuba diving with friends now and then. Throw in some camping, hiking, mountain biking,rally driving, and Kempo kick boxing to round out my mid 20's.
I moved to the US for love having met my wife online and decided to see how real a 8 month old trans hemisphere online relationship could be. I'd say it is going pretty well 10 years in. Our first "date" was Half life 1 deathmatch. How geeky and cool is that!?
In the GAME world:
I've played video games (card and board games too) since I was about 10 years old. Starting with a commodore 64 and ending with my current windows 7 systems (Wii and PS1/2/3).
Some of my fondest times are sitting down with my wife playing either the silent hill, resident evil, or Final Fantasy series. Any kind of 2 player fighting game such as tekken often end in some kind of marital discontent. We are both fiercely competitive. Before we became parents Sundays would be wittled away playing games together and drinking tea. Now we play games with our kids on Sundays if the weather is nasty.
I started online early but my first real group based gaming online was with a Battlefield 1942 clan. I played with them for many years under the name "Dizzy_Dingo". Evolving through to battlefiled 2. I hung up my sniper rifle, Blackhawk/AH-6 little bird, and medic packs with Battlefield 2142. I still check in with the clan and joke of the old days. They play Call of Duty based games now, but run a battle field 2 server for us old timers.
In the year 2005 some time my wife and I found WoW. We had known about it for a while and resisted the MMO. Some old buddies from the clan convinced me to run a free trial. Followed by a second free trial, a subscription, an account for my wife, and my second account. I founded a guild on a whim as a way to tie together in game friends. It did what WoW guilds do over the next 4 years. At first it was a school for new players from levels 1-80. Then it was a social raiding guild. Then it split and became a social guild and a raiding guild. Then it grew and started to raid again. Then I got tired of my play time being 90% politics and 10% dailies. So passed the reigns and suspended my accounts.
Enter EVE into the fold as a request from a friend to try it. I tend to be a social person but in EVE I play more like a old grumpy space hermit. I might talk to folks in local and some times throw a new player mining in a destroyer a tip about ship bonus etc. I might drop the odd comment into local when warping about highsec. However for the most part I am focused on a very select personal goal. I have things I want to do and don't want advice from other people. I like to figure stuff out on my own. So for now I am in hermit mode in EVE. This will change as I come out of my learning stages. Eventually my corp. will give way to another corp. or I'll grow it and move into the more exciting parts of new Eden.
I did try a player corp. for a while. I found it nice to chat to folks but there was no direction present there. There was no unity and common goals. Nothing to strive towards. Pickup mining and mission running happened and I jumped in with both feet and helped. There was NO plans of moving into lowsec EVER!!! Wardecs were spent in doc discussing PvP fits and skills not giving them a try. It was not the life for me. I left the corp to live my hermit life and the friend who introduced me to EVE quit the game for "lack of content and too many assholes!" LOL!
In the BLOG world:
I am super new to blogging with this being my first stint at the sport. I blog as a journal for my own amusement and records primarily. However I do hope that some folks see the blog and my half crazed hermit rantings. I hope some of them can relate to my experiences as they come to pass and others can benefit from them to avoid some heart ache.
EVE proves to be a colorful place to blog about. It can be harsh at times, but I kind of dig that. EVE is the ultimate ego game. Your in charge of a demi god with nothing do with it but what you please. So much to do and forever to do it. I plan to blog here for a while and see where this thing goes. Hope some of you drop in and check it out.
Well that's about it for now. Sure there is a lot more to me than what is posted here. but in summary.
-I am a geek who is married with kids
-I am a grumpy old space hermit
-I will blog about the stuff I do in EVE. Good, Bad, or Whatever
Cheers
EVE SOB
Monday, March 8, 2010
Damn you polyurethane and/or repetition!
Limited play time this week in EVE. My home space is STILL under construction. Life lesson to all would be DIY folks. Polyurethane and sub freezing temps (shed is mighty cold in March) lends to some poor drying times and surface results. Needless to say my custom desk that will be my new home for both EVE and work is sticky and un-usable right now. I did move it in from the shed, and place it in my office. It's getting there in terms of setting with the help of a small room and a big heater. It does have a nice set of kitty prints across one of the sections now. I cannot hate Wolfwood for his curious nature and deep sadness that I am not playing EVE at night much with him.
I have been able to set up one of my gaming rigs and get some high sec work done. I had lost a drake last week to a super annoying situation where it got stuck in a collidable structure and invariably tanked DPS to a slow death while I clicked around trying to find a way out of said structure. That was the last time I played on the 100" front projection system.
I broke down and bought a hulk despite my lack of justification that one is needed for highsec mining. It does yield more rocks per cycle based on ship skills bonus etc. It can fit a tank that is more than a wet paper bag with "tank" scribbled in pencil. However it's still a steep jump in cost. I could fit and loose 5 covetors for the cost of one hulk. Still a long order for a few more % yield, bigger rock hopper, and some tank. yet I now field one to crush rocks a few % faster. Not mining much these days, might as well do all I can to limit the time invested,
I've been running level 3 Q 15+ missions as well. They don't quite offer the bounty perks of the Level 4 Q-10 missions. I can rip through them like a gang of destroyers through a retriever during hulkageddon though. I can also fall to sleep, go AFK and feed the cats while I run them with my myrmidon. It's not a bad alternative while the polyurethane dries and my offensive skills catch up. right now if I have to pick my repetitive tasks in EVE, I choose missions.
Right now I am having some good luck with incursus production runs. I find a little mining goes a long way towards these fun little frigates. I keep 10% of what I am making for future fun. They sell quite well too.
I was reading a post over on denseveldspar. I have a lot of respect for Ahnog. He is a wonderful gamer and gives some great advice. His willingness to help new folks is admirable as well. However I am not so sure his cut and dry response at the end of his post is spot on. It definatly is one from a die hard EVE player who has been at it for a while. All be it one who also has blooged a good chunk about why we loose new players.
I played WoW for 4 long years. I ran a guild and played the Horde side for the most part. For a new player in WoW the first 80 levels and all the quests tend to steadily and deliberately shove you along the path towards endgame. It entertains along the way. I enjoyed the path from level 1-80 in WoW so much I did it half a dozen times or more. It was the end game that became VERY dull, filled with repetition and the endless dungeon grinds for the chance of a drop.This lead me to lay down my two accounts and search for something else. Goodbye WoW, hello EVE.
Now before you go "Oh he is one of those!" and rate me off as a carebear who wants EVE to be more like WoW, Stop that shit. I like EVE for what it is. I like the sandbox, I like the harshness, and I plan to do the time. I'll bore you all to death (all 3 of you) with my accounts of me doing my time.
What I will say is EVE brings the repetition out of the box early. After the tutorials in all there short and sweet glory. As a new player you have a million options in the long term. In the short term however you need ISK and time to build skills. Lets take a moment to reflect on our options here:
1: PvP. Sure you can dive in and start getting the living snot kicked out of you in noob ships. You will die over and over and over until your skills catch up. Not sure how this helps with getting ISK. Sure you could join a corp, and get free T1 ships and learn the ropes. It still takes ISK and time and repetition.
2: Mining. The king of repetition. I mean folks talk in yields per cycle for Christ sake. You can make money while your skills cook. It leads to industrialism, which requires jobs and lab time. Nuff said.
3: Mission running. I've ran the SAME level 2 mission 4 times in a single day. Letter for letter, rat by rat. So close together that I expected to see wrecks from the last run still out there. I did this while doing Cladari navy security missions trying to get that last 0.1 rep to tick to unlock level 3's. Much more exciting than mining, and perhaps a little more confidence boosting than a million flaming deaths in a noon ship.
It's Number 3 where I can see EVE could improve (not change). A little more writing, a few more chain quests, some new epics arcs, perhaps some kind of career towards NPC bounty hunting to whittle away those days when your wallet is low and your skill points are not in the 10's of millions.
I know half a dozen players who are geeks and gamers to the death. Who play MMOs for years on end who have tried EVE and checked out early based on mission content repetition and/or frustration over getting constantly dacked (pansed) by folks who simply just have more skills than they do. HTFU for sure, but hey they kind of have a point.
So I ask all you 2-4 year vets to stop a moment and think back to the first 6 months of your EVE life. Ratting for sec rating. OH how many pirates and long term EVE players bitch of the drone that is. It might have been very different than today's new pilots. I am sure things have improved. Stop and think about what your options are today as a new pilot or a returning pilot. No matter how much you love EVE and it's potential you kind of have to say "Yeah, I cannot wait to get past that!". It's my opinion and yes I am working hard to get past this stage. ;)
Cheers
EVE SOB
I have been able to set up one of my gaming rigs and get some high sec work done. I had lost a drake last week to a super annoying situation where it got stuck in a collidable structure and invariably tanked DPS to a slow death while I clicked around trying to find a way out of said structure. That was the last time I played on the 100" front projection system.
I broke down and bought a hulk despite my lack of justification that one is needed for highsec mining. It does yield more rocks per cycle based on ship skills bonus etc. It can fit a tank that is more than a wet paper bag with "tank" scribbled in pencil. However it's still a steep jump in cost. I could fit and loose 5 covetors for the cost of one hulk. Still a long order for a few more % yield, bigger rock hopper, and some tank. yet I now field one to crush rocks a few % faster. Not mining much these days, might as well do all I can to limit the time invested,
I've been running level 3 Q 15+ missions as well. They don't quite offer the bounty perks of the Level 4 Q-10 missions. I can rip through them like a gang of destroyers through a retriever during hulkageddon though. I can also fall to sleep, go AFK and feed the cats while I run them with my myrmidon. It's not a bad alternative while the polyurethane dries and my offensive skills catch up. right now if I have to pick my repetitive tasks in EVE, I choose missions.
Right now I am having some good luck with incursus production runs. I find a little mining goes a long way towards these fun little frigates. I keep 10% of what I am making for future fun. They sell quite well too.
I was reading a post over on denseveldspar. I have a lot of respect for Ahnog. He is a wonderful gamer and gives some great advice. His willingness to help new folks is admirable as well. However I am not so sure his cut and dry response at the end of his post is spot on. It definatly is one from a die hard EVE player who has been at it for a while. All be it one who also has blooged a good chunk about why we loose new players.
I played WoW for 4 long years. I ran a guild and played the Horde side for the most part. For a new player in WoW the first 80 levels and all the quests tend to steadily and deliberately shove you along the path towards endgame. It entertains along the way. I enjoyed the path from level 1-80 in WoW so much I did it half a dozen times or more. It was the end game that became VERY dull, filled with repetition and the endless dungeon grinds for the chance of a drop.This lead me to lay down my two accounts and search for something else. Goodbye WoW, hello EVE.
Now before you go "Oh he is one of those!" and rate me off as a carebear who wants EVE to be more like WoW, Stop that shit. I like EVE for what it is. I like the sandbox, I like the harshness, and I plan to do the time. I'll bore you all to death (all 3 of you) with my accounts of me doing my time.
What I will say is EVE brings the repetition out of the box early. After the tutorials in all there short and sweet glory. As a new player you have a million options in the long term. In the short term however you need ISK and time to build skills. Lets take a moment to reflect on our options here:
1: PvP. Sure you can dive in and start getting the living snot kicked out of you in noob ships. You will die over and over and over until your skills catch up. Not sure how this helps with getting ISK. Sure you could join a corp, and get free T1 ships and learn the ropes. It still takes ISK and time and repetition.
2: Mining. The king of repetition. I mean folks talk in yields per cycle for Christ sake. You can make money while your skills cook. It leads to industrialism, which requires jobs and lab time. Nuff said.
3: Mission running. I've ran the SAME level 2 mission 4 times in a single day. Letter for letter, rat by rat. So close together that I expected to see wrecks from the last run still out there. I did this while doing Cladari navy security missions trying to get that last 0.1 rep to tick to unlock level 3's. Much more exciting than mining, and perhaps a little more confidence boosting than a million flaming deaths in a noon ship.
It's Number 3 where I can see EVE could improve (not change). A little more writing, a few more chain quests, some new epics arcs, perhaps some kind of career towards NPC bounty hunting to whittle away those days when your wallet is low and your skill points are not in the 10's of millions.
I know half a dozen players who are geeks and gamers to the death. Who play MMOs for years on end who have tried EVE and checked out early based on mission content repetition and/or frustration over getting constantly dacked (pansed) by folks who simply just have more skills than they do. HTFU for sure, but hey they kind of have a point.
So I ask all you 2-4 year vets to stop a moment and think back to the first 6 months of your EVE life. Ratting for sec rating. OH how many pirates and long term EVE players bitch of the drone that is. It might have been very different than today's new pilots. I am sure things have improved. Stop and think about what your options are today as a new pilot or a returning pilot. No matter how much you love EVE and it's potential you kind of have to say "Yeah, I cannot wait to get past that!". It's my opinion and yes I am working hard to get past this stage. ;)
Cheers
EVE SOB
Monday, March 1, 2010
Where in the Universe is EVE SOB - March 2010
Starting this month I've decided to post a short bit about where I am in the EVE universe. With my current focus in 2010 being around industry. It might not be too riveting for some but who knows it might capture some attention. I plan to do these on the 1st of every month.
Where am I:
In Lonetrek drifting around the highsec parts mining rocks, scanning stuff, and shooting things for the Caldari navy. Both accounts have access to level 4 missions and are squirreling away LP for a rainy day in hell.
How's the corp doing:
Still just my two accounts with no recruiting. Slowly chewing away at the POS requirements. Making t1 stuff. Selling t1 stuff. Recruiting will start after the POS is online. Long term plans area still industry in Highsec.
What Skills am I training:
SonOfBraben is rounding out armor tanking skills then off to t2 blasters. After that SonOfBraben will focus hard on trade and industry skills. Zombinutz is chewing down the last 22 days towards an Orca license. Next zombinutz will focus on being able to fly all race frigates to T2 and all weapon systems to T2 with some armor tanking on the side. I don't have all the plans laid out but I expect this to take him 6-8 months of solid training.
In that pesky real world:
My EVE space renovations are nearing an end. Last coat of paint went on over the weekend and some moving in took place last night. Still exploring the space as I design my new custom desk. I expect finished pictures to be on the blog in the next week or so.
CNN headline for Today:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/02/28/stark.chile.quake.haiti/index.html?hpt=C1
Enjoy March 2010 All.
Cheers
EVE SOB
Where am I:
In Lonetrek drifting around the highsec parts mining rocks, scanning stuff, and shooting things for the Caldari navy. Both accounts have access to level 4 missions and are squirreling away LP for a rainy day in hell.
How's the corp doing:
Still just my two accounts with no recruiting. Slowly chewing away at the POS requirements. Making t1 stuff. Selling t1 stuff. Recruiting will start after the POS is online. Long term plans area still industry in Highsec.
What Skills am I training:
SonOfBraben is rounding out armor tanking skills then off to t2 blasters. After that SonOfBraben will focus hard on trade and industry skills. Zombinutz is chewing down the last 22 days towards an Orca license. Next zombinutz will focus on being able to fly all race frigates to T2 and all weapon systems to T2 with some armor tanking on the side. I don't have all the plans laid out but I expect this to take him 6-8 months of solid training.
In that pesky real world:
My EVE space renovations are nearing an end. Last coat of paint went on over the weekend and some moving in took place last night. Still exploring the space as I design my new custom desk. I expect finished pictures to be on the blog in the next week or so.
CNN headline for Today:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/02/28/stark.chile.quake.haiti/index.html?hpt=C1
Enjoy March 2010 All.
Cheers
EVE SOB
New blog pack!!!
So the new 50 blog CK blog pack is announced. A lot of very good new additions to the pack. Some I've read for as long as I've been playing. Others from pilots I've benefited greatly from both there in game and blog advice.
The composition of the pack is a good one with a nice spread of all walks of EVE life. Gratz to all on the list. I am looking forward to reading what the new pack produces.
A special gratz goes out to Dense Vedlspar and Astral's Eve trial by fire who are both great new additions.
Cheers
EVE SOB
The composition of the pack is a good one with a nice spread of all walks of EVE life. Gratz to all on the list. I am looking forward to reading what the new pack produces.
A special gratz goes out to Dense Vedlspar and Astral's Eve trial by fire who are both great new additions.
Cheers
EVE SOB
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